Communications Strategies Sharpen Ahead of Leaders’ Debates

The latest public opinion polling shows a tightening race, with the Liberals continuing to lead, as Canada’s most consequential election in decades enters its next phase. Here’s where things stand in the race: 

• 44% LPC 
• 38% CPC 
• 9% NDP 
• 6% BQ 
• 2% GPC 

This week, we examine the communications strategies each party is deploying ahead of the leaders’ debates. 

Liberals 

The Liberals’ overarching strategy has been to rally Canadians around a theme of national strength and unity. From the outset, Carney framed the election as a fight to defend Canada’s economy and sovereignty against Trump-era U.S. hostility.  

In campaign messaging this week, Carney consistently cast himself as the leader who will stand up for Canada and “build Canada strong” in the face of external pressures​.  

Carney uses calm, steady delivery to reinforce this message to come across as thoughtful and in control, supporting the idea that he’s the right person to guide Canada through uncertain times. This patriotic, almost wartime, posture is a staple of Liberal communications, positioning the party as the defender of Canadian interests and designed to help distance both Carney and the party from former leader Justin Trudeau. 

The Liberals are also using strong, military-style words like “defend,” “build,” and “strong” to create a sense of urgency and responsibility—tapping into how people feel when they believe Canada is under threat from outside forces. 

Key message themes for the Liberals included: 

• Canada strong – Carney often invokes this slogan, calling on Canadians to show pride and unity. This message aligns with the current view of many Canadians that he is best positioned to defend Canada against the adverse economic policies of President Trump 

• Economic nationalism – Liberal messaging has stressed building a more economically independent Canadian economy – particularly from the U.S. 

• Safety and security – Carney layered on a new theme this week, making promises around crime and justice on April 10 

The Liberal Party has backed its on-the-ground events with an active media and social media campaign. Liberals have been effectively using visual content like infographics and short video clips of Carney’s speeches to make this content more accessible to voters.  

From a communications standpoint, the Liberal campaign’s efforts over the past seven days show a disciplined message architecture: every speech line, X, and photo-op ladders-up to the thematic of “Canada strong.” This integrated communications approach has helped the Liberals continue to reinforce strong economic messaging in the face of threats from the United States.   

Conservatives 

Over the past week, the federal Conservative Party of Canada doubled down on a campaign message of “Canada First – For a Change,” positioning itself as the agent of change after a “lost Liberal decade.”​ 

The overall messaging strategy for the Conservatives this week was to keep the spotlight on domestic change and cost-of-living relief – the campaign’s comfort zone – while also reassuring Canadians that a Conservative government would stand up to external threats like Donald Trump. 

This two-pronged message – “Restore affordability at home, defend Canada abroad” – appears to be defining the Conservative communications as the election moves into the critical last stages of the election. 

Economic relief, law-and-order, and national pride were the dominant themes in Conservative messaging: 

• “Stopping the crime” and “putting Canada first”​ – Conservative messaging continued to feature these themes, which drew applause from supporters at campaign stops this week​ 

• Distance from President Trump – earlier in 2025 the Conservative leader’s alignment with the type of populist appeal that elected Donald Trump benefited him and the party, it is now a liability, and Poilievre is actively distancing himself from these comparisons. On the popular Quebec talk show Tout le monde en parle, Poilievre contrasted his modest upbringing compared to Trump’s inherited family wealth 

Over the past few days, the Conservative campaign executed a packed schedule of policy announcements and regional rallies, using a video focused strategy to reinforce its messaging while positioning Poilievre as an authentic ‘everyday’ man. The Conservative team uses multiple video formats ranging from produced documentary-style policy explainers to unedited vlogs shot by Poilievre himself on the campaign trail.   

The campaign has embraced social and digital media, where content featuring quick-hit videos make it easy for supporters to organically share messaging in a way that is representative of the campaign’s grassroots approach.  

NDP 

Over the past week, the federal NDP shifted its message toward influencing the next Parliament rather than outright victory. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has moved from “I’m running to be prime minister” to urging voters to prevent any one party from winning a majority.​ 

Key message themes from the NDP emerged from Singh’s keynote speech at the Progress Summit in Ottawa, a gathering of progressive organizers and activists. Singh asked Canadians to elect enough New Democrats so neither the Liberals nor Conservatives “hold all the power.” 

“Ottawa works best when there’s someone there to hold the powerful to account,” Singh argued. 

This strategic pivot acknowledges the party’s polling reality – with NDP support dipping to a distant third – and positions the NDP as kingmaker rather than a potential outright winner​. 

The NDP’s messaging this week also continued to attempt to set it apart as progressive and populist-left with policy promises including:  

• Progressive policy proposals include – National rent control, caps on grocery prices​, an immediate pharmacare launch​ and using language about billionaires and privatization that is attempting to align the NDP with protecting Canada from “Donald Trump’s trade agenda to deep Conservative and Liberal cuts” 

In addition to traditional campaign communications, the NDP continues to look to social platforms to reach younger voters, bringing content creators onto Singh’s campaign bus. This influencer strategy reflects the party’s understanding that younger voters are more likely to encounter political content on TikTok or YouTube than at a rally.  

BQ 

The Bloc Québécois and leader Yves-François Blanchet maintained a campaign strategy centered on advocating for Quebec’s interests within the federal framework. Blanchet emphasized the need for better representation of Quebec at the federal level, suggesting that such representation could also benefit other provinces. 

Key message themes in the BQ campaign continued to be keeping their message focused on: 

• Economic concerns – The BQ focused on protecting industries that are core to Quebec’s economy, particularly in the face of the Canada/U.S. economic conflict 

• Cultural Identity – The Bloc continued to champion Quebec’s unique cultural identity, advocating for policies that protect and promote the French language and Quebecois culture 

In the context of the regional campaign the BQ is running, the communications strategy for the party continues to be built around regional engagement around Quebec with media appearances throughout the province. These are supported by a Quebec-centric, French language dominant social media component, focusing on their voting base in that province.